We thank the Working Group for compiling the UPR report on Israel. We call on United Nations members states to closely monitor the implementation of the recommendations that Israel has accepted. In this regard we note:

On 5 June, Israel accepted a recommendation by Australia that constraints on freedom of movement not restrict people’s basic rights, including access to health care and education. Exactly two weeks later, 49-year-old cancer patient Masoud Abu Saqer died while waiting in Erez crossing for permission by Israeli intelligence to cross to hospitals in the West Bank.

Masoud was diagnosed with cancer in his right kidney in December 2016 and had since applied three different times to receive treatment in a specialized hospital in Jerusalem. His application was rejected each time by Israeli authorities.[1] Palestinian medical patients as well as students are rarely allowed to leave the Gaza Strip – an area of Palestine that has been described by the High Commissioner as a “caged toxic slum” [2].

Similarly, Israel accepted a recommendation by Costa Rica that Israel “[p]revent the excessive use of force by the Israeli military.” This should include a commitment to cooperate with the Commission of Inquiry established by the Human Rights Council to investigate the recent use of deadly force against tens of thousands of Palestinians participating in predominantly peaceful protests. We are extremely concerned that the Israeli Defense Minister Liberman remarked: the army "can respond much more harshly" to protests in the occupied territory and would not "hesitate to use everything we [they] have."[3]

Further, we regret that Israel refused to commit to a recommendation made by Germany to end practices of collective punishment in East Jerusalem, and recommendations by the United Kingdom to cease the policy of demolitions of Palestinian properties and reverse settlement expansion in occupied territory.

Israel’s refusal to commit to these recommendations demonstrates an entrenched lack of political will to abide by its obligations under international law, including as an occupying power, which merits condemnation by members of this Council.